Roller bearing



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 s. SMiTH Er AL ROLLER BEARING Filed Feb; 10, 1939 April'16; 1 940.

4., A si Q v 5. SMITH AL 'April 16, 1940.

ROLLER BEARING Fil ed Feb 10, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I INVENTO 5 IPatented id,

iraesrsras gravest ais assi Roman sesame Application February 10, 1939,Serial No. 255,572

5 Claims. (Ci. 308-213- This invention relates to roller bearings of thetype including a race ring having roller retainers at its ends, and aplurality of rollers to roll in said race ring and held against bothsidewise r, and lateral displacement therefrom.

More particularly, the invention is directed to the insertion of rollersinto bearings wherein the roller retainers are integral with the racering, although the invention also may be utilized in o bearings havingseparate roller retainers fastened on the race ring, for insertingrollers after the retainers have been secured to the race ring.

, In such roller bearings, the roller retainers extend throughout thecircumference of the race 5 ring coaxially therewith and have interiorcir-.

acter described whereby the rollers can be ln-' serted or assembled inthe race ring easily and quickly.

Another object is to provide such a roller bearing including a race ringand a set or complement of rollers so constructed that the majority orall but one of the rollers can be easily and quickly inserted into therace ring between said retainers by simple canting or manipulationof therollers relative to the race ring, while'at least one roller serves asa"key'ro11er and is specially constructed to cooperate with a speciallyformed portion of the race ring to permit 'insertionof the key rollerafter insertion of the other rollers 0 and to hold all of the rollersagainst displacement from the race ring.

A further object isto provide a novel and improved method of assemblingrollers in race rings of bearings of the general character described,

5 whereby the assembling operation shall be simple, rapid andinexpensive.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will appear fromthe following description when readin conjunction with the ac- 0companying drawings in which:

Figure l is an end elevational view of an outer race-ring for a rollerbearing embodying my invention, with portions broken away for clearnessin illustration. 5 Figure'z is a perspective view of the race-ringshowing the manner of inserting the majority of the rollers in therace-ring.

Figure 3 is a similar view showing the manner of inserting the keyroller into the race-ring.

Figure 4 is a detached perspective view of the key roller shown onanenlarged scale.

Figure 5 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view through therace-ring on the line 5-5 oi Figure 1 showing the manner of insertingthe majority of the rollers.

Figure 6 is a similar view showing the manner of inserting the keyroller.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary plan view taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a similar view showing the key roller completely insertedinto the racering.

- Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 2 depicting an inner race-ring,showing the insertion of thekey roller, and v Figure 10 is; a viewsimilar to Figure 6 of the structure illustrated in Figure 9.

Referring to Figures 1 to 8 inclusive, the reference characters A and Bdesignate respectively the race-ring and the roller retainers. As shown,these roller retainers constitute coaxial fiangesintegral with therace-ring at opposite ends thereof, although if desired the retainersmay be in the form of separate rings secured to the ends of therace-ring, for example as shown in the co-pending application of Victor-L. Barr, Serial No. 209,207, filed May 21, 1%8. Each rctaine'r has aninwardly extending circumferential flange or lipl disposed in spacedopposed-relation to the inner surface or raceway 2 of the race-ring toform an interior circumferential groove 3 which loosely receives thereduced frusto-conical ends or trunnions Q of the plurality orcomplement of rollers 5.

In accordance with the invention, all of the rollers 5 except one areinsertible into the racering with theirends disposed beneath the lips Iof the retainers, by simple manipulation or canting of the rollersrelative to the race-ring.

Specifically, as shown in Figures 2 and'5, each roller is initiallycanted with its axis atan angle to an axial plane of the race-ring,whereupon the ends or trunnions d of the roller are inserted beneath thelips of the retainers B, after which the roller is set with its axisapproximately in an axial plane of the race-ring.

. v 5 As shown, one of the rollers designated X has at least one endspecially formed to cooperate with a specially formedportion oi one oithe retainers B so that said roller can be inserted into, the race-ringwith the roller axis disposed approximately in an axial plane oi therace-ring and after all of the other rollers have been inserted ashereinbefore described. Specifically, the reduced end of the roller X isin the iorm of a diametral fin 6 having two opposite fiat sides I andtwo opposite edges 8 converging at an angle corresponding to the sidesof the frustoconical ends 6 of the other rollers, and one retainer ringB has a radial slot 9 opening through the inner periphery of the lip land leading into the corresponding groove 3, said slot being of a widthslightly greater than the thickness of the fin 5 and of a depthapproximately corresponding to the depthof the groove 3. With thisconstruction, when the roller X is disposed with oneaxial plane thereofin an axial plane of the race-ring coincident with the axial plane inwhich the notch 9 lies, and with the fin 6' disposed edgewise to theslot 9, upon lateral movement of the roller in said axial plane, the finmay be slipped through the slot as shown in Figures 3, 6 and 7 with theother end Ill of the roller disposed beneath the lip l, of the oppositeretainer B. Thereafter, the rollers are rolled along the raceway 2 ofthe race-ring so that the fin 6 is disposedobliquely or crosswise withrespect to the slot 9 as shown in Figure 8, so that the fin 6 will beheld against movement through the slot upon lateral movement of theroller X in its axial plane that is then coincident with the axial planeof the race-ring in which the slot 9 is disposed. When all of therollers are inserted, they mutually hold each other with their axesapproximately parallel to the axis of the racering, and the lips Icooperating with the ends t, 6 and Ill of the respective rollers, holdthe rollers against both axial and lateral displacement from therace-ring. Consequently, the roller)! constitutes a key roller andcontrols the removal of the other rollers. For example, upon removal of.the key roller by withdrawing the fin 6 outwardly through the slot 9,the other rollers-may then be moved from the race-ring by canting themas shown in Figme 5.

It will be observed that the key roller can be inserted into and removedfrom the race-ring only when the fin t is in a certain relation to the.slot 9, and the fin 6 being wider than the slot, the possibility of thefin B accidentally accurately aligning with the slot 9 as shown inFigures 5 and 6, is so remote as to be inconsequential.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that two or more ofthe rollers may be formed in the same way as the key roller X, andeither or both of the retainers B may have one or more slots 9 orequivalents thereon The invention is equally adaptable to innerrace-rings as shown in Figures 9 and. 10. Here the race-ring C hasoutwardly extending retainers D which have inturned lips H0corresponding to the lips i, and at least one of the rollers Y is formedin a manner corresponding to the key roller X, while the other rollersIt may be identical in structure with the rollers 5. Either or both ofthe retainers D may have one or more slots I2 corresponding. to the slot9. The rollers H and the key roller Y are inserted into the race-ring inthe same manner as hereinbefore described in connection with the outerrace-ring illustrated in Figures 1 to 8 inclusive.

While we have shown and described the invention as embodied'in certainnow preferred details of structure, it should be understood that this isprimarily for illustrating the principles aieaesi of the invention, andthat many modifications and changes may be made in the details ofstructure, particularly the special form of the key rollers andcooperatingportions of the retainers, without departing from the spirit.or scope of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, claim is:

1. A roller bearing comprising a race-ring having coaxial rollerretainers with inwardly facing circumferential grooves, a plurality ofrollers each having reduced ends loosely fitted in said grooves topermit rolling of said rollers circumferentially of said race-king andhold the rollers against displacement relative to said race-ring, onereduced end of at least one of said rollers being in the form of adiametral fin, and at least one of said roller retainers having a radialslot of a width slightly greater than the thickness of said fin andleading into the corresponding groove to permit said fin to slipedgewise through the slot into said groove for inserting said rollerinto the race-ring with its ends in said grooves of the rollerretainers, said fin being of a width greater than said slot to hold saidroller against displacement through said slot when the fin is disposedother than edgewise to the slot.

2. A roller bearing comprising a race-ring having coaxial rollerretainers with inwardly facing circumferential grooves, a plurality ofrollers certain of which have irusto-conical ends loosely fitted in saidgrooves to permit rolling of said rollers circumferentially of therace-ring and hold the rollers against displacement relative to saidrace-ring, one end of at least one roller having a diametral fin formedwith two approximately fiat opposite sides and two edges converging atan angle corresponding to the sides of said frusto-conical ends of theother rollers, and at least one of said roller retainers having a radialslot of a width slightly greater than the thickness of said fin andleading into the corresponding groove to permit said fin to slipedgewise through the slot into said groove for inserting said rollerinto the race-ring with its ends in said grooves of the rollerretainers.

3. A roller bearing comprising a race-ring liaving coaxial rollerretainers with inwardly facing circumferential coaxial grooves, aplurality of rollers having reduced ends loosely fitted in said groovesto permit rolling of said rollers circumierentially ofthe race-ring andhold the rollers against displacement from the race-ring, at least oneof said roller retainers having a slot opening through its periphery andleading into the corresponding said groove, said slot being of a widthless than the diameter of said rollers, and at least oneend of at leastone roller having a diametral fin of a thickness and width slightly lessand greater respectively than the width of said slot.

4. A roller bearing comprising a race-ring having coaxial rollerretainers with inwardly facing circumferential grooves, a plurality ofrollers each having reduced ends loosely fitted in said grooves withtheir axes parallel to the axis of said race-ring to permit rolling ofsaid rollers circumferentially of said race-ring and hold the rollersagainst displacement relative to said racering, said rollers mutuallyholding each other with their axes approximately in axial planes of saidrace-ring whenall of the rollers are insertecLand at least one end of atleast one roller and at least one roller retainer having specially whatwe formed cooperating portions to permit the said end of said roller toenter the corresponding groove of said roller retainer when the rolleris moved laterally in one axial plane thereof that is coincident with anaxial plane of the racering, and to hold the roller against movement outof said groove when the roller is rotated to bring another axial plane.thereof into coincidence with saidaxial plane of the race-ring.

5. A roller bearing comprising a race-ring having coaxial rollerretainers with inwardly facing circumferential coaxial groove's,. a,plurality of rollers having reduced ends loosely fitted in said groovesto permit rolling of said rollers circumferentially of the race-ring andhold the rollers against displacement from the race-ring, one of saidrollers constituting a key roller to control responding groove, and oneend of said key roller being shaped to pass freely into said slot whenthe roller is moved laterally in one axial plane thereof that iscoincident with an axial plane of the race-ring, and to hold the rolleragainst movement out of said slot when the roller is retated to bringanother axial plane thereof into coincidence with said axial plane ofthe racermg.

- SYDNEY SIV.

RAYMGNDE.

